Things are getting worse. | ADHD Information
It was a security thing. He was afraid that noone would talk to him so he brought an interesting book to brake the ice. Of course he was fine once he got there,
I am going to try the non verbal cue for him and see if it works, you are right, his verbal skills are not as good as could be. We tried him on just the ADHD meds but his anxiety is far deeper that that. If fact we had to medicate him for that 1st.
Thanks for the reply Just so frustraded now!
Why did they choose Zoloft for him? I found that it made both my anxiety and my ADHD worse, and last time I checked, Zoloft was not approved for children (at least in Canada) due to the increased suicide risk it causes. I'm not saying it's necessarily a bad choice for your son, I am just curious if the doc who prescribed it gave any reason as to why that med and not any other.kalstolyn39782.3865509259
As some of you know we have been having problems with DS's ADHD meds for a while now. Well now it seems his Zoloft is doing nothing for his anxiety either.
My hubby has gone to 1 therapy session and is freaking out about DS ,For the last 2 years I have been telling him and he is a very strict disiplinartian. He finally realizrd how bad he has been since that session. Well at least it happened.
We have a med check with DS's pdoc on Wend.Good news(if it is true) the Psychiatrist whom we were highly reffered to by many has not been seeing new patients for over 2 years, I looked yesterday on line and it says they are now accepting new patients. I am going to call Monday morning to try and get an appt.
Anyway back to this anxiety thing. I have no idea what is driving this thing, but it exploded when my hubby said DS could not bring a book to a birthday party he was going to and he was literally shaking. He let him take the book in the end.
ahhh what to do? what to do?
Thanks for the rant.
My son is not on an anti-anxiety med, usually just controlling his adhd symptoms (with focalin xr) is enough to keep the anxiety under control. BUT, when stress levels go up we see a marked decrease in the effectiveness of the meds in relation to the anxiety. I wonder if something similar could be going on with your son?We're already looking forward to the impending holiday doom- oops, I'm mean cheer, right?
That's enough to tip my son over the edge- he's just been a sheer joy this long weekend, if you know what I mean. 
That's great news about the psychiatrist, and in the mean time you might talk to the therapist and/or have him talk to your son about coping with the anxiety. I've been trying to get my son to give me a non-verbal signal when he's starting to feel like he's going to lose it- he has trouble expressing hoimself at the best of times so I finally realized there was no way he was going to be able to tell me with words.
It is the little stuff that seems to put them over the edge, isn't it? I wonder if taking the book to the party was a security thing? Maybe he felt better having something to hold, or maybe it functioned as a sort of "ice-breaker"?
The Doctor who perscibed it said it would be a good choice for anxiety and depression, his co-mordids. We are no longer with him but the new pdoc said nothing. It actually worked good for 2 years, but not now. As I said we are looking into a new doctor and hope that will bring some good change. I have already lowered his Vyvance dose from 30 to 20mg and We see the old doc next week. I have been hearing alot about Zoloft not being a good med to use with stimulants either lately so I wonder about that.I am glad to hear you are getting an appt with the doc that you want to.
Good luck with that.
I think its great that he wanted to bring a book. It is a great thing for
'conversation'. It is a transitional item where it is something from home
brought to a different place. Sometimes you just have to pick your battles.
Put your foot down when he wants to run into traffic but if he wants a book
at a party, then let him have it. It cant hurt. He may even forget about it by
the time he gets there.
I dont know much about the meds, but hopefully you will find something
that fits.Redbanana- You were right , the book sparked talk in the car and after that he forgot about it. Ended up having a great time. Although he picked at his nose and mouth the whole time (anxiety) he was ok. The child's mom is a mean one to kids , who gave the party. I should have known better. I am praying that this new doc is available this am and we get an appt.
Well an update- We met with my sons teacher last night, and although not good he managed to pass most of his subjects, and the teacher says he's got it in his head but he won't let it out appropriately. He did this, batteling with the meds all year.
She says he lacks focus and has much impulsivity. DUH? The meds are for what? Has she even read the 504? Tomorrow we see the old psych(new one not taking new patients(I figuered). Hopefully he will give us more than his usual 5 min and out the door. He really needs to think about this.
I am very nervous about starting new meds as usual, and the bringing up of more tics. Scares the bigibees out of me.We will see what happens tomorrow.
Hi- holiday season is difficult for everyone, but it exaccerbates the impulsivity and emotionality of of our adhd children to the point where social and school skills bow out for a month or so.
If your child has a 504 or IEP, perhaps a call to your son's doctor could facilitate a letter that may allow your son to spend the last week of the holiday season (or even two weeks) at home with a visit-at-home-teacher.
I homeschool and I set goals the 2nd week of November and reitterate them daily- each of my children were given a certain amount of work and told they have until Jan 1st to finish it. If they finish it before, they have no school work except art until January 2nd. Jon is having the most trouble. I don't know if he will have a holiday but he decided to only work 2 hours a day for now. My other son is working hard and will have three weeks for a holiday and my daughter about 2 weeks.
I let my children make choices and they take the consequences-good or bad for them.
Jon seems to have difficulty concentrating and I think his med dose needs to be increased but he told me he does not want to do so right now. I bought a metranome and set it to heartbeat rate and it seems to help him focus better. He has gone from 62 lbs in April of this year to almost 80 lbs and has grown tall. He is 9 y/o.
I also try to keep the parties down at this time of year. One extra activity per week be it a party or something else. I think they need the structure and security of status quo.
I wish you success! My son is now 11 1/2 has been taking concerta since he turned 7. Thank goodness for concerta.
We moved up the dosages quickly. You are at the lowest. We were there for only ONE day!!
We ended up at 72mgs in 4 months and stayed there for 3 years! He is now at 90mgs and still doing great.
We also added guanfacine from the beginning. It really does the extra trick for DS. couldn't start a day off right without both. Son's psychopharm suggested it. It helps with any anxiety, overstimulation, impulsiveness, etc.
I wish you the best - let us know how you are all doing!! 
Good luck!!
Our dd was just diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder this past summer. Zoloft has done great for us. It is amazing that they didn't put him on something for the anxiety now because our dr told us that the stims make anxiety worse. He said it's like giving someone that is already on edge a HUGE cup of coffee, same effect.
Our dd had some tics too until we got the anxiety under control. Things I never even thought of as tics, constantly making funny noises in her throat, chewing her clothes and hair, things like that. It's all gone right now and I am so thankful. Some of those things would drive me batty sometimes.
Concerta has been a God send for us. She has been on it now for 4 years and it has never quit working all together. We've had to occasionally up the dose but that's it. But she tried 4 or 5 meds before this and it was the only one that worked.
Well good luck and I hope everything goes well for your son.
Hr has been on Zoloft for 2 years, it just doesn't seem to be doing the job right now. He is on 50mg. But the doc wanted to give the Concerta a try 1st before he messes with the Zoloft. Thanks for your reply.Good luck with the Concerta. It is very different than the Focalin XR. My daughter hated that one but does really well on Concerta.Hey Spamula,
I guess I haven't been on here in a while. I see you're off the Vyvanse. How is it going?
We are still on it, but I hate it.. On the other hand, his grades are good, his behavior at school is good too. I'm afraid to mess with anything, especially during the Holidays. He always gets out of whack in December..
How is the smart mouth? I swear the Vyvanse is causing Will's nastiness, but it's the only thing he's been able to take without having to have a booster dose during school, which he is opposed to...
Hi there Bethan and willsmama- Good to hear from you. We have seen improvment in the 2 weeks so far. his therapist noticed right away and the teacher said no news is good newsDUH can't this woman figure anything out? she can't tell me its any better, right. I wish the psychiatrist would write for tenex but he is totally unwilling at this time. My only complaint with the Concerta is it doesn't last as long as the Vyvanse. I am leaving him on the 18mg because it is vacation and he needs to gain some weight, a minus for the Concerta. He is so much nicer and no more sas, well not much, has been nice. The Vyvanse gave him a horrible attitute and tics, the Doc says are not tics. So we will move on to 27 after the holiday and hope the tics don't come back. Well then he may give me the quafacine lol. Anyway thanks for the concern and we shall see how the next step goes.
My child also has ADHD and generalized anxiety disorder. He takes Metadate CD, sertraline (generic Zoloft), and guanfacine (generic Tenex). The guanfacine helps decrease the anxiety and decrease the impulsivity and hyperactivity. Maybe you can ask the dr. about trying that?
My child started Zoloft the last of all these meds. It's definitely helping for his anxiety. For the 1st time, he doesn't have a death grip on my hand in parking lots with his eyes constantly darting everywhere seeking to find the car that might hit him. For the 1st time, he is not crazed by bugs and can play outside when it's warm and be fully relaxed and fully enjoy himself. At the worst of the bug phobia, he couldn't be outside. He's now back to sleeping in his own room all night and sleeping on his bed. It took us months and months to get him back into his own room, and then it took several more months to get him off the floor and back to sleeping on his bed. He used to lie in his doorway so he could monitor if someone was coming up the stairs. The overnight sleep issues resurfaced when we did a trial discontinuing guanfacine. Restarting it helped a lot, but the Zoloft has made things even better.
For my child, anxiety is worst at night when the stimulant has worn off. Dr. speculates it's b/c his body is so out of control and that's hard for ds.
Zoloft hasn't been all good for my child. We've seen an increase in the impulsivity. Dr. told us that this might happen, and it sure has. We're back to dealing w/ him occasionally sticking out his leg to trip his brother, answering for other people, touching things that he shouldn't (like my papers), stealing food from the cupboards, etc. He's doing great at school, so we're just dealing w/ this for now. I may talk to the dr. about splitting the Zoloft dose and doing it twice a day (giving him 12.5 mg AM and 12.5 mg PM, vs. 25 mg in PM).
Mom2ADHDboy39790.9325578704I don't think we lasted ONE day on 18mgs. The teacher saw NO improvement so he was moved up to 27mgs, which lasted maybe a week or so.
Our doctor - both pediatrician and psychopharmacologist - would write prescriptions each day if the doseage needed to be increased. The psychopharm mails them to me and the pediatrician we would pick up.
Do not wait for appointments, have the doctor leave them for you or mail if that works!! I feel bad when kids stay on the wrong dose for like a month, or until their next scheduled appointment. they do NOT have to wait.
Also insurances will cover doseage increases because even though the med is the same, the mgs. changed. So it gets covered an you only pay the co-pay.
I hope this makes sense. I would get the increased prescription ASAP!!
Best wishes!! And Yes the guanfacine really "frosts the cake" so to speak positively. His concerta alone doesn't do the trick for DS.
spamula, how is the concerta going? is he successful at 18mgs or have you increased it yet? Remember we have had a lot of success with concerta AND guanfacine/tenex. The guanfacine helps with anxiety and impulsiveness, as well as overstimulation.
Hope you are all well!!